


emma nolan's terrible horrible no good very bad day

by musicals_musicals



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: Alyssa Greene is the Best Girlfriend, Dance With Us 2020, Emma Nolan Needs a Hug, Extended Scene, F/F, Gen, Hiding in a Bush, Rescue Missions, its emma pov on the opening scene where mrs greene is addressing the reporters, ive used that tag twice in the last few month i think it should be an established tag, kind of, let characters hide in vegetation to avoid their problems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27919327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicals_musicals/pseuds/musicals_musicals
Summary: Emma was supposed to get to school early so she could avoid the press conference and properly ignore the fact that her prom date threw the PTA into chaos to the point that news reporters were involved.Emma does not get to school early.
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Kudos: 36
Collections: Dance With Us Week 2020





	emma nolan's terrible horrible no good very bad day

**Author's Note:**

> written for dance with us week day 3 ~~favorite~~ scene.

Unfortunately Emma doesn't notice the reporters until it's too late to run away. She was texting Alyssa, phone in one hand, guitar in the other, when the threads of conversation happening in front of her finally processed.

“–the PTA has an accepted set of rules concerning prom” Mrs. Greene explains. Emma freezes in place, maybe if she doesn't move no one will see her, and she definitely does not want to be seen.

_ By the way my mom is hosting a press conference about the prom on Monday, so try to get to school early _ . Alyssa had told her during movie night on Saturday. The press conference was scheduled after school started, but Emma doesn’t have a first period class, putting her arrival time mid conference. She just wanted to sleep a little later.

“–and if a student chooses to bring a date, that person must be of the opposite sex.” Mrs. Greene finishes her monologue, prompting the reports to ask questions so Emma takes the chance to duck behind the bush next to the sidewalk.

_ This is not good. Very very not good. _ Maybe she could just turn around and hope someone will let her in at one of the back doors, except she’s already late enough that second period started, so there’s no guarantee someone will be out in the halls to let her inside.

Over at the press conference Mrs. Greene finally picks a question, “there may be some legal repercussions if we prevented this girl from attending”

Emma rolls her eyes, the universe could’ve at least trapped her out of earshot of the conference. “Unfair how we can’t just ban the gay girl” Emma mocks, speaking to, well... the bush. She just needs to get inside without getting cornered by reporters and angry students on the way in. A hat and scarf would be ideal, except Emma doesn’t have either because it's not that cold.

As a last resort Emma pulls her phone out of her pocket and calls Alyssa despite the fact that she’s probably in class. The phone rings, and rings, and just when Emma is about to give up and attempt to sprint past the reporters the line clicks. “Emma?”

Emma breathes a sigh of relief “Alyssa, thank god. I have a problem” Through the phone line she can hear the sound of shoes meeting the crappy tile in the hallway. 

Alyssa pauses and t he silence on the phone line feels exasperated “You forgot about the press conference?”

“I forgot about the press conference,” Emma confirms “I’m trapped hiding in a bush please help”

Alyssa sighs but sounds unsurprised “I’m already on my way to the office”

“You’re the best girlfriend” 

Emma faintly hears the office door squeak open and the whirring of the printer tells Emma that Alyssa has walked up to the front desk. The phone goes muffled while Alyssa talks to whoever’s working “I need to see Principal Hawkins please”

“Do you have an appointment?” 

“No, it’s an emergency” That must be enough for the office worker (the perks of having a girlfriend who’s on student council) because Alyssa thanks them and the printer fades into the background.

“Ms. Greene? Why aren’t you in class?”

Emma sets her guitar down and sits cross legged next to it. Emma splits her attention between Alyssa on the phone and the press conference that is still going. Mrs. Greene seems to be nearing the end of her speech. “we have no choice: there won't be a prom this year”

Emma hadn’t realized that canceling the entire prom was on the table.  _ What a horrible day. _ Everyone was going to think it was her fault.

“–Emma is trapped outside thanks to the press conference that’s happening about the prom” Alyssa explains quickly. At this point Emma will probably not be going to her second period class, she'll have to get the notes from someone, except everyone is going to be mad at her about the prom.

“Thank you for letting me know Ms. Greene. Please return to class”

The sound of shoes on tile is back, meaning Alyssa has left the office “Mr. Hawkins is on his way out”

“Thank you ‘Lyssa. You’re a lifesaver” Emma dares to look around the edge of the bush. Mrs. Greene is done with her speech and is fielding questions. She can’t imagine they’ll be done for a while. “Do you want to meet in the band closet during lunch?”

“I can’t, my mom is taking me out to celebrate the press conference” Alyssa groans, “It’s going to be terrible. I'd much rather hang out with you”

“That sucks, maybe next time” Emma was hoping today was the day she could enact her  _ have-an-actual-prom-posal-despite-already-having-made-plans-to-go-together  _ plan (otherwise known as haappdahmptgt). The front door finally opens and principal Hawkins steps out, looking around, presumably trying to find Emma. “Hawkins is here, I should go”

“I love you”

No matter how many times she hears Alyssa say it, she still feels all warm and fuzzy inside “I love you too” Emma hangs up the phone and takes a deep breath before stepping out of the bush and slowly walking towards the school.

She can hear the moment the reports spot her (or actually the moment one of the students spots her and yells “there she is!” effectively clueing in all the reporters that she is the evil prom cancelling lesbian), but Mr. Hawkins is there to fend them off, yelling about student privacy.He ushers her up the stairs to the front door.

“I didn’t realize they were going to cancel the entire thing. How could they do that?”

Mr. Hawkins shakes his head, holding the door open for Emma “It's amazing this kind of thing still happens.”

“You're the principal, Mr. Hawkins. Can't you do something about this?” Emma asks a little desperately. Not only does she not get to take Alyssa to prom, but now everyone is going to be mad at her for getting the prom cancelled. Probably making her social life even worse.

“First thing I'm going to do is contact the Indiana State's Attorney. This isn't about school rules; this is a civil rights case” Mr. Hawkins decides, catching Emma off guard.

She takes a few seconds to process the words.  _ State’s Attorney? _ “What? Seriously?” It’s just a prom, and as much as she wants to go, that feels like overkill.

“You're damn right. I'm betting pressure from the State's Attorney will stop them cold. It better, because I'll tell you this much: if word gets out, people are gonna get mad. Next thing you know, some modern day Eleanor Roosevelt is going to march down here and all hell is going to break loose.” Mr. Hawkins explains.

“Oh my God. I don't want this to blow up into a big thing!”  _ That sounds like a nightmare. _

On the way to her third hour Emma contemplates what Hawkins said. _ It’s just one prom in small town Indiana, what are the odds the news even leaves Edgewater. _ They'll be fine.

**Author's Note:**

> famous last words.
> 
> as usual comments and kudos are fun! find me on tumblr [@izzy-mccalla](http://izzy-mccalla.tumblr.com/) where i post about the prom and some other stuff


End file.
